Emulsifying apparatus



Dec. 15, 1953 J. F. MILLER ETAL 2,662,752

EMULSIFYING APPARATUS Filed May 23, 1950 i BY WK/5m ATTORNEY PatentedDec. l5, 1953 EMULSIFYING APPARATUS James Franklin Miller and Michael C.Jaskowski, Pittsburgh, Pa.. assisnors to the United ,Stam of America asrepresented by the Secretary of the Army Application May 23, 1950.Serial No, 163,6

4 Claims.

emulsions. The time consumed, the energy expended, the type of agitation(whether stirring, shaking, or inversion), and the personal equation,all changed the iinal product. After much study, it was discovered thatthe most reproducible and regular results were obtained by the simplesttechnique 0f merely inverting a cylinder containing the concentrate andwater and returning it toits original position. 100 ml. graduated glasscylinders were used and the emulsions were examined by placing thecylinders containing the arranged to transmit light through the bottlesso that their contents may be inspected after such rotation. The bottlesupport includes a casing 5 Open ,at the front side and closed at thebottom. and the two ends. the casing tcp 6 having a lid '1 hinged as at8 so that the casing may be opened at the top to give access to itsinterior for placement or removal of the bottles. Fixed within thecasing at .either end is a shaft bearing 9, In, said bearings beingaligned to support a shaft ll and stub axle l2 aligned with. shaft Il.An elongated bottle rack, I3 is secured to shaft H at one end, and is,fixed to the stub axle l2 at the other end; the arrangement being suchthat the longitudinal axis of the bottle rack I3 substantially coincideswith the common axis of shaft lIl and stub axle I2. The bottle rack isopen at the front and back to permit transmission of light therethrough,and has a lightreiiectins surface such. as ymilky Plexiglas I4 on whichrest the lower endsof bottles or testtubes l5.- The Plexiglas 'sheet i4extends beyond the confines of the bottle, as Fig. 3 clearly emulsionsin front of alight source. Stabilities shows. A perforated bottle holderI6 is fixed of emulsions could be reproduced to abOllt 5%, 25 Withinlille bOttle rack and-holds the bottles upprovided a single operatorworking with identical emulsion systems was active for short periods oftime, say one hour. With dierent operators, widely diierent results wereobtained even when they attempted to follow the same technique.Repeating the inversion produced results which were increasingly erraticas the In the accompanying drawings forming a part.

of this specification- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a rotatorembodying the invention;

Fig, 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3 3 of Eig. l.

In the drawings, we have shown a rotator which in general consists of asupport for a plurality of bottles or other transparent containers,power means for rotating the support through one or more revolutions asdesired, and, a source or light right and equally spaced as shown.Stoppers l'l seal the upper ends ol the bottles. To hold the Stopperstight, a sponge rubber mat I8 is xed on the bottom of a strip I9 securedto a lid 2li .hinged as at 2i to the top of the bottle rack. Latches(not shown) may ksecure the lid 20 and thus hold the bottles immovablyon the rack.

By the described construction one or more test tubes of bottles may beplaced on the rack and held against relative movement, with no spillageof its contents possible, while the rack is rotated one 01 more times onits longitudinal axis- A single rotation of the rack: causes the bottleor bottles to be inverted and then restored to its original position.All the bottles are moved in the same manner and all are subjected toidentical agitation or mixing; in fact, as the drawings indicate, eachbottle is rotated about an axis which is half way between its upper andlower ends, After the rotation the bottles may be inspected with the aidof light from a source such as a pair of fluorescent tubes 24, 25 heldon a support 26 including a reilector 2l, with a lightdiffusing panel 2l(such as milky ll=lexiglas) placed in front of the tubes. The lighttransmltted through the Plexiglas panel 28 shines through the bottles ortest tubes and reveals their contents. Some of the light strikes the re--llectlng sur-,face I 4 on which the bottles stand and is reflected intothe interiors of the bottles, to 'give an improved view of the contents.The

source of electric current and the usual lightcontrolling switch are notshown but will be understood without illustration.

To effect and control rotation of the bottle rack, several differentmechanisms may be used. The one herein shown consists of an electricmotor 30, a reduction gear box 3l coupled with the motor and driving ashaft 32 slowly, a coupling 33 directly connecting shaft 32 with shaftll, a pinion 34 driven by shaft 32, a spur gear 35 driven by pinion 34,a microswitch or cut-off switch 36 connected into the motor circuit, anda pin 37 xed to and extending out from gear 35 in any desired position(as by screw threads on its end, not shown, engaged in one of preferablyten tapped bores 38 in the gear) and adapted to depress the contact ofthe microswitch 3G once during each revolution of the gear to open themotor circuit. Now the pinion 34 may have sixteen teeth, while the spurgear may have 160 teeth, or a 1:10 ratio, making the spur gear rotateonce for each ten rotations of the pinion. The bottle rack, of course,rotates synchronously with the pinion. Depending on the angular positionof pin 37 relative to the microswitch at the start, the bottle rack willrotate from one to nine times before the parts are brought to rest. f atenth rotation, or a larger number of rotations,

are desired, the operator `will swing the microarranged in front on therotator, with the necessary circuits. By placing a light source ofconstant intensity at the rear so that the light will be directedthrough the emulsions to the cells, variations in the concentration ofoil droplets will variably aifect the light cells, and with the propercalibrated instruments the rate of creaming may be measured. Observationby the eye is capable of determining only large differences in dropletconcentration, whereas lightsensitive cells would make possible themeasurement of very small droplet concentration differences.

In actual use, the described apparatus has demonstrated its value formaking emulsions of various mixtures and for visual inspection of theemulsions. The device is easily built, operated and kept in service. Noparticular skill is required and results are substantially uniformi.

Obviously, a number of changes may he made in the described apparatusWithout departure from the spirit of the invention. Thus, in someinstances natural light, for example, that .fr om a window, may be usedin lieu. of the source of artificial light 24, 25 shown in the drawings.Other minor changes will occur to those skilled in the art.

What we claim is:

l. Emulsifying apparatus comprising a support which is open from oneside to the other so that light may pass therethrough; a bottle holderinclosed by the support; means for clamping a bottle against movement onthe bottle holder, means for rotatably mounting the bottle holder on thesupport so that the bottles are turned end over end when the bottleholder is rotated; power driven mechanism for rotating the bottleholder, said power driven mechanism including an electric motor,reduction gearing driven by said motor, and a shaft driven by saidreduction gearing for rotating the bottle holder inA one direction only;a switch electrically connected with said motor for opening the circuitof said motor;

means moved by said shaft to operate said switch to stop said motor,said last-named means being operator-adjustable to change the number ofrotations permitted the bottle holder in each cycle of the machine; anda support upon which said circuit-opening switch is hingedly mounted insuch position that the operator may swing the switch out of the path ofsaid last-named means so that the bottle holder may then rotate as longas desired.

2. Emulsifying apparatus comprising a casing which is open from one sideto the other so that light may pass therethrough; a bottle holdersurrounded by the casing; means for clamping a bottle against movementon the bottle holder; means for rotatably mounting the bottle holder onthe casing so that the bottle is turned end to end when the bottleholder is rotated; power driven mechanism for rotating the bottleholder; a light-diffusing plate mounted on the casing for cooperationwith a bottle on the bottle holder, and light reecting means provided onthe bottle holder and disposed adjacent one end of the bottle andextending laterally therebeyond to reflect light up through the bottle.

3. Emulsifying apparatus comprising a casing which is closed at the top,bottom and ends but open at each side so that light may pass from oneside to the other, a bottle holder surrounded by the casing, means forclamping a bottle against movement on the bottle holder, means formounting the bottle holder in the casing to rotate about a horizontalaxis so that the bottle is turned end over end when the bottle holder isrotated, means for rotating the bottle holder, a verticallydisposedlight-diifusing plate mounted in the casing for cooperation with abottle in the bottle holder, and light reecting means provided on thebottle holder and disposed adjacent one end of the bottle and extendinglaterally therebeyond to reflect light up through the bottle.

4. Emulsifying apparatus comprising a rectangular casing which is closedat the top, bottom and ends but open at each side so that light may passfrom one side to the other, a bottle holder surrounded by the casing, apivoted lid mounted in the top of the casing and over the bottle holder,means for clamping a bottle against movement on the bottle holder, meansfor mounting the bottle holder in the casing to rotate about ahorizontal axis so that the bottle is turned end over end when thebottle holder is rotated, means for rotating the bottle holder, avertically-disposed light-diffusing plate mounted in the casing forcooperation with a bottle in the bottle holder, and light reecting meansprovided on the bottle holder and disposed adjacent one end of thebottle and extending laterally therebeyond to reflect light up throughthe bottle.

JAMES FRANKLIN MILLER. MICHAEL C. JASKOWSKI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 423,362 Wells Mar. 11, 1890 1,301,536 Bee Apr. 22, 19191,376,273 Hansell Apr. 26, 1921 1,448,617 Doe Mar. 13, 1923 1,502,915Neuwerk July 20, 1924 2,131,662 Holmes Sept. 27, 1938 2,268,098 WeathersDec. 30, 1941 2,286,836 Sachtleben June 16, 1942 2,368,350 Ellison Jan.30, 1945

